“My Four-Year-Old Asks What Happens …” by Tina Parker

Tina Parker

MY FOUR-YEAR-OLD ASKS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE DIE AND WHEN I HESITATE SHE ANSWERS HER OWN QUESTION

First they wake up on the day they’re going to die
 
And they pack up all their clothes
 
And they say goodbye to their mama and goodbye
 
To their daddy
 
They go to a different state and find a nice empty
 
House that’s quiet and a good soft bed
 
And they lie down.
 

from Rattle #42, Winter 2013

[download audio]

__________

Tina Parker: “I kept my first poems locked up in my third-grade diary. They said mean things about my big brother, and I knew they could get me in trouble. I was hooked.” (www.tina-parker.com)

Rattle Logo